Huge Off-Highway Road Trains

1. The ETF Haul Train: this thing looks like it's all set to conquer the Moon, or Mars (with little modification):

This huge Road Train (or Haul Train) developed by ETF Trucks of UAE and Germany is a fantastic project - the ultra-powerful, yet highly efficient piece of "monster machinery" looks like a "wet dream" of every miniature train enthusiast, apocalyptic cult follower, or a Mad Max movie sequel producer. United Arab Emirates once again set out to conquer desert wastes - this time with 3,700 camel (er...horse) power engine under each hood.

Here is how ETF trucks look when linked together in a mining haul train (each truck has MULTIPLE engines, totaling up to 3700 hp):

The company promises payloads from 309 to 1520 US tons (280-1370 metric tons) and huge operator cost savings - after all, only one operator is required per train. The concept system also features in-pit loading (with help of addional mechanism) and possibility of easy unloading to cargo ships.

The previous version of this Ultra-Class truck also looked very impressive. This iteration of the Haul Train consisted of two locomotives, one at each end - allowing the train to easily move in either direction.

Each vehicle in this train has its own all-wheel-drive and all-wheel-steering by-wire, featuring the ability of some wheels (middle axle-lines) to be lifted during the empty haul:

The ETF road train uses electric drive system which is unique in the industry; also, the concept of hooking up many trucks provides costs savings of more than 25%. So far, the company has two truck building facilities, one in Germany and one in UAE.

2. Overland Train in Arizona, 1963 - A Beast of a Machine!

Seen at Yuma Proving grounds in Arizona in 1962, this fantastic 565-feet-long Overland Train was tested in a configuration of the control car, ten cargo cars and two power-generating cars. It could deliver 150 tons payload and boasted fully-appointed living quarters inside the leading car:

I like this top view, where all cargo cars are forming a circle like pioneer wagons in a Western movie! -

"The control cab is all that remains of The Overland Train today, and it may be viewed at the Yuma Proving Ground Heritage Center. The rest of the Overland Train was sold to a Yuma scrap dealer." (more info):

That Overland Train in Arizona reminded us of this highly exciting and capable vehicle for the zombie apocalypse scenario: the Overlander, the Gerry Anderson's Terrahawks primary supply vehicle. Here is a model of this vehicle (complete with a helijet landing pad) built by David Sisson (more info):

Traversing the desert route from Darwin to Adelaide in Southern Australia, these trains are often called the "tyre kicker's paradise". They often have more than 60 tires (or "tyres" as spelled in Australia), routinely travel 3,000 km between destinations and look like they can eat your typical Peterbilt for breakfast.

Heath Raymond thus describes the experience: "Despite being limited to 100kmh, these Road Trains operate on desolate Highways (often single lane) that had unrestricted speed limits until July of 2007 (now 130kmh limit). Often the limiters are tampered with & passing one of these in the opposite direction is chilling enough. But when you get one that pulls out and overtakes you at 130kmh, that's scary!

If you encounter one of these approaching from the opposite direction on a single lane highway such as the Barrier or Tanami, you're left with two options. Pull over & out of there way & quickly, or put your head between your legs & kiss your ass goodbye! Because these things can't & won't swerve."

Well, these talented engineers of Nazi Germany did come up with a supertruck / road-train for harsh cross-country trips - and what's more important, for crossing mine fields. The concept was quite elaborate, though half-realized:

The modeling society at Militaar has come up with a miniature of this exceptional super-truck:

As this vehicle was primarily designed for crossing minefields, it featured solid tires (with almost no body structure around them) and the heavily armored cab. It seems to be an ancestor of the MRAP Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles.

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3 Comments:

Anonymous said...

That German vehicle was not developed for _crossing_ minefields -- as the captions point out, it had essentially no cargo space, making it useless as a transport -- but for _clearing_ minefields by driving across them, hence the solid wheels and high ground clearance. The Wehrmacht developed other mine-clearing vehicles, such as the Minenräumer (http://bkpforums.com/phpUpload/2/minenraumer.jpg, the Minenräumpanzer III (http://bkpforums.com/phpUpload/2/minenraumpanzer.jpg), as well as more 'conventional' designs using mine rollers, such as the PzKpfw IV auf MinenRollern (http://bkpforums.com/phpUpload/2/minenraumgerat.jpg); tanks fitted with mine rollers for clearing mine fields continue to be used today.

As a teenager in the 70's, I was fascinated by big trucks. And, since I lived close to the Pacific Truck & Trailer plant in North Vancouver BC. I found myself hanging around there checking out the new behemoths coming out of the factory. When these giant "Road Locomotives" were produced I was completely blown away! So I went into the office and asked lots of questions. I was rewarded by being given a personal guided tour of the plant by the CEO! It's a memory of a lifetime! After the tour, he invited me into his office and gave me some hats, brochures and a picture of the ROTRAN units in action. The best part was the caption under the picture... It read, "They're so big that the Earth simply revolves under them!" And I believed it!